Former Defense Intelligence Chief: I Never Met With Obama Once

Retired Lt. General Michael T. Flynn — rumored to be on the short list of possible running mates for presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump — says that during the two years he served as director for the Defense Intelligence Agency in the Obama administration, he was never invited to meet with the president.

“I never met with him once,” Flynn said of President Obama during an interview with The Daily Caller

Flynn was appointed by Obama twice — first in 2011 for a position in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, then as the Defense Intelligence Agency director, a title he held from 2012-14.

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He said in the interview that he was stunned the president seemed to never have time for him.￼”He’s very aloof and very distant, I wasn’t on his screen at all. I wasn’t on his radar, which is really sad. It’s amazing,” Flynn said.

The general, who spent more than 30 years working in the intelligence sector, was far more complimentary of Trump, saying he has been talking with the New York billionaire and his core staffers since he began his campaign for president last year.

“He is very, very serious about the future of this country. He is a great listener. I felt we had a great discussion about the world,” he said. “Trump has a bigger, longer-term vision for this country than just sitting as a president for four years. He really does. And that’s what I was impressed by.”￼Flynn was far less kind in his comments about Trump’s opponent, presumptive Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton. Of Clinton’s attempt to improve relations between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Obama, Flynn said, “She went into it with a level of arrogance and a lack of understanding.”

He also criticized her for claiming to be a champion of women’s rights while having a foundation that does business with Middle Eastern countries that are hostile to women.